The Simple View of Reading

The Simple View of Reading (Gough and Tunmer) propsoses that the measure of reading ability (R) is the product of decoding (D) and language comprehension (C), R = D x C. Catts, Hogan, Adlof and Barth of the University of Kanass found that the contribution of decoding towards reading comprehension decreased as children progressed through school, where as the contribution of language comprehension towards reading comprehension increased as children progressed.

Based on this view of reading, assessment should measure both decoding ability, and language comprehension. We use listening PATs to measure language comprehension at the beginning of each year, and administer Probe to measure reading comprehension. Should we be administrating a graded purely decoding assessment as well as a graded purely language comprehension assessment.

Deocding

How do we effectively teach decoding skills to improve D?
Build on students':
  • Phonological awareness, and graphophonic and word knowledge (Annandel, 2004)
  • Sight vocabulary (Annandel, 2004)
  • Understanding of print conventures (Annandel, 2004)
  • Knowledge of different text types - purpose, structure, organisation & language features (Annandel, 2004)

Comprehension

How do we effectively teach language comprehension skills to improve C?
Comprehension Strategies from Effective Literacy Practices (MOE, 2003):
  • Making connections
  • Forming and testing hypotheses
  • Asking questions
  • Creating mental images or visualising
  • Inferring
  • Identifying the authro's purpose and poitn of view
  • Identifying the main idea
  • Summarising
  • Analysing and synthesising
  • Evaluating ideas and information

Links on the Web



    Glossary

    Fluency
    Fluency is usually defined as rapid and automatic decoding plus expressive prosody. *

    References

    • Annandale (2004). First Steps: Reading Map of Development.
    • Ministry of Education (MOE) (2003). Effective Literacy Practices: Years 1 to 4.